Hot real estate market? Multiple offers? No time or can’t carry out an inspection before putting in an offer? Do you have to waive your condition on a home inspection in order to seal the deal?

If that’s what you are facing, think long and hard about buying that house. You’ll have an uphill battle after the fact trying to sort out who pulled the wool over your eyes and “made” you buy that house that’s got problems you now want fixed. There will be problems of course, there’s not a house we’ve inspected that doesn’t have them, and based on the number of calls we’re getting from homebuyers with horror stories who felt obliged not to have an inspection carried out because they just had to buy that … “dream house”…we’re not surprised!

RECO (Real Estate Council of Ontario) is the body responsible for regulating real estate professionals in the province on behalf of the Ontario government and protects the public’s interest through a fair, safe and informed marketplace. They say that buyers who exclude a home inspection clause in their offer to purchase “may later learn that there are property defects, required repairs or needed upgrades that you weren’t aware of. In some cases, this can be expensive in the short or long-term. Foregoing a home inspection is a significant risk that a buyer needs to carefully consider.”

From our perspective, not having a home inspection carried out before you buy sounds a little bit like this:

“My wife & I are looking at getting a new car. We’re willing to pay as much as we can afford in order to get it. We found one car that’s sort of what we are looking for. Unfortunately, there aren’t many cars to choose from out there and we don’t want to keep driving our old car. If we don’t grab this car now we won’t get it. So we paid 15% more than they were asking for the car! The dealer told us there’s no warranty on it and we didn’t have time to ask our mechanic look at it first for fear of losing it. The upside I guess is that we saved money on not getting a safety check.”

Okay…it’s not realistic you say. So, you can’t find any homes where an inspection will be permitted in order to secure the house you want AND you have to buy a house NOW! We think you’ll agree though that no home inspection means an increased risk as a homebuyer. Well, what about this? Why not hire a home inspector to tag along with you during your home buying process – when you’re out there looking at the various houses you want to buy? Line up the houses you want to look at and hire an inspector to ride along with you. Better yet, narrow down the houses you want to look at first. The inspector can point out lots just walking around with you during an open house or attending a specific viewing of homes. This is far from perfect of course, but a cursory look and having a second set of eyes might help you better understand the condition of that home before you put in your offer. Best of all though, only buy a house conditional on having a full and complete home inspection carried out.

Don’t be embarrassed to contact us about problems you’re having after buying a house that you didn’t get inspected. An inspection after the fact will still help you ascertain its condition and better prepare you moving forward. If you think you’ve been wronged in your home buying purchase, we also offer dispute resolution & litigation support services.

If you’re a realtor, lawyer, mortgage broker or other real estate professional reading this, you might want to consider strongly encourage if not insist on clients have an inspection carried as part of their Offer to Purchase. Failing this, there are some other options, for example:

Home Inspection – carried out before clients submit their Offer to Purchase

Oops Inspection™ – carried out after they purchase the home

Ride Along Inspection™ – hire us by the hour to tag along with you when viewing homes

An inspection can help to mitigate the risk for not only realtor, lawyer, mortgage broker or other real estate professionals but your “clients-for-life” – the home buyer. For that matter, having the home inspected may reduce risk for the vendors too!

An inspection is important for the safety of your loved ones and should be conducted whenever a home is purchased, and then periodically while you own the home…just like you go to the doctor for a physical, houses need routine inspections. Your kids will also be happy knowing their home is Guaranteed Monster Free from any typically large, ugly or possibly frightening creatures too 🙂

And remember this, if you remember nothing else …

You Get What You Inspect NOT What You Expect™